By Haley Sweetland Edwards and Abby Vesoulis
President Trump has frequently used his presidential powers to further his own political agenda. The USPS is no exception. After a strike in 1970, Congress decided to remove the Postmaster General from the Cabinet and have the agency pay its own budget. As the Internet began its rise, first class mail, the USPS's biggest money maker, dropped in half, and it began to rack up debt. Making things worse, Louis DeJoy, a Trump supporter, was appointed Postmaster General by the Board of Governors. Normally, this board would be bipartisan, as Governors serve 7 year terms. However, the Republican Senate refused to appoint any of Obama's appointees, leaving it open for Trump to fill with his allies. DeJoy has moved along Trump's path of turning the agency into a privatized company with radical cuts.
Recently, the USPS sent out letters in 46 states saying that it may not be able to deliver election ballots on time. The White House has repeatedly refused to provide any additional funding during the pandemic and election, although increased pressure has caused DeJoy to halt his reforms. Another problem is that a large number of Democratic voters vote by mail. If on Election Night, the race is in Trump's favor then begins to lean toward Biden, Trump has set the stage to blame the Postal Service.
"It’s not hard to imagine the damage that a hung election, like the 2000 Bush-Gore debacle, could exact in the era of Trump-fueled disinformation. Democracy, after all, is not unlike flying in Peter Pan’s world; if you stop believing in it, it ceases to work."
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